Crouching Tiger Fucking Rabbit

I'm referring of course to "Lust, Caution", directed by Lee Ang who also did Wo Hu Cang Long.

They cut the motherfucking film. It's 9 mins out of almost 3 hours. But your penis is also a few grams out of a 60-70 kg. does it mean that it's alright to cut it off?

http://book.sina.com.cn/books/2006-07-20/1423203180.shtml

Apparently Edward Yang (RIP) wanted to make the film and asked Zhang Ailing (RIP) about it. He was thinking of casting Leslie Cheung (RIP) in it. Well we know it's not ever going to happen, everyone's dead now.

Well there's been a fair amount of bad press about the censorship. And it was just as well that they released the R(A) version last week. The ST reviewer even wrote in the papers that the movie isn't worth half of what it would have been without the sex scenes. Then later on I read this newspaper article about some distributor or cinema manager saying "I'm surprised at the overwhelming response for this movie." I think that watching "Lust Caution" with cuts is like watching a porn movie acted by eunuchs. Only a small part is cut off but it makes all the difference.

It was of course sold out by the time I got to the box office half an hour before the start of the show. However I never panic when these things happen, especially when I'm alone. It just so happened that the cinema I went to has all the theatres in the same place, so I could just buy a ticket for another movie and go watch "Lust Caution" anyway. So this may be possible for places like Vivocity and Marina, whereas in places like Plaza sing or Cathay Orchard you will have to know in advance whether the show you want to watch or the one you will sneak into are in the same half of the theatre complex. And impossible for other places like Shaw where there is an usher for every theatre.

So I bought a ticket for "Lions for Lambs" and went and watched "Lust Caution" instead.

A great part of the reason for me to watch this movie is that Tang Wei is such a babe. And it's a shame that she's wearing a cheongsam so much of the time that obscures the view of what I'm sure are a pair of shapely long legs but of course there's the story as well.

The story doesn't drag. I think there are a few reviews who say so but I think that most of the parts were necessary.

Spoilers from now on.

There was this part where she almost lured Tony Leung into the apartment and the students were about to pounce on him. Then they told her, after discussing it in her absence, that she had to seduce and fuck Tony Leung as part of their plan to lure him out and assassinate him. That night, one of the comrades, the only one not a virgin, teaches her how to fuck. Then in the morning, she finds out that Tony Leung and his family are moving out of town. What a bummer - lost her virginity for nothing. I had to laugh.

There was also a murder committed by the "comrades" that was terrifying precisely because these guys didn't quite know how to kill a person properly. Leave you to imagine the gory details yourself.

There was this part where Tan Wei complains to her resistance commanders about how she was opening her hole to him and graphically describing the details of the sexual encounters to him, because he had always been coy about talking about what she was supposed to do. He was pissed off and left in a huff but when the thought came to my mind that he just went somewhere convenient to jack off immediately I burst out laughing. Then there was this rape scene cum (no pun intended) body cavity search when they were having sex for the first time. Then at the end, she is splayed out on the bed, and there's a quaint smile on her face: is she happy that he's taking the bait, or does she actually enjoy being roughed up like that? There was also the perversity of him inviting her to the geisha quarters, only to have her sing a Chinese folk song for him in there.

Why did he buy her the ring? Was it a trap to make her reveal her real intentions, or was he really falling in love? (If you ask me I'd say it was the latter.) Then why was she so touched by the ring that she gave him a chance to escape his assassination? When she could have just kept the ring and run away? Why didn't she swallow the poison pill when she was cornered by the roadblock?

And the guy who was the ringleader, why is he so wooden? Compared to the wizened and tortured Tony Leung, he seems almost like a spoilt brat who's in this for his abstract ideals. Why are the Japs drinking their lives away every night? Because the Americans are going to fuck them upside down and they know it.

There she was, wandering around on stage, only to be called up to join her comrades on the circle seats. The thing that deserves to be emphasised is this: yes, some of her happiest times were mingling with her comrades while they were freshmen in the U. Yes, she accepted this mission because of the loyalty she felt towards them. But after Hong Kong she was never again shown in the same room as them, even though her cell leader had told her that they would meet up again. And their positions in that scene depict that: her, lost on the stage, in the spotlight in them middle of the action wondering what the fuck she was going to do next, and her comrades in the back, plotting her next move, and sometimes even treating her like a pawn. And that's the basic situation: the only person she's really intimate with is Tony Leung.

Well, good film. Maybe even excellent. Not great though. Or maybe I'm just jaded.